Batting 5th at DH..... Willie Calhoun?

[Pickles]

You know there's a lot of angst on this board at times.  About lineups.  About who is up- Vavra- who is getting playing time- Frazier- who is batting where in the lineup- Mountcastle.  I get it.  We're fans, and as such we're both myopically focused on the Orioles and we're prone to see the negatives, or at least be more vocal about them.

Maybe this doesn't belong on this board, but I got some good news I want to share with the main board.

The New York Yankees, with their 260 million dollar payroll have Willie Calhoun, of the career -2.6 WAR, the career 83 OPS+, with the physique of an Ewok, in their lineup today, batting 5th!, in the DH slot!

We're going to the playoffs this year.

[joelala]

I love Willie Calhoun haha

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, joelala said:

I love Willie Calhoun haha

I almost have a personal loathing for him!  LOL.

I'm too old for that but I can't help myself.

He's not a major league baseball player.  That he's spent parts of 7 seasons in the major leagues is offensive to me as a baseball fan.

[EdwinRip]

They also just signed Kole Calhoun. Maybe they like the name?

[Just Regular]

In the Willie Calhoun DH game, a Gerrit Cole-Alek Manoah matchup, Boone just hooked Cole 1st and 3rd, 2 out in the 6th inning, without having let it a run, before Batter Faced 24.

Replacing him is a reliever with 14 strikeouts in 8.2 innings.

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Just Regular

[joelala]

59 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I almost have a personal loathing for him!  LOL.

I'm too old for that but I can't help myself.

He's not a major league baseball player.  That he's spent parts of 7 seasons in the major leagues is offensive to me as a baseball fan.

Hahaha he’s got power. That’s about it. I just always love watching guys who don’t look like athletes playing. Puckett, Gwynn, Mo Vaughn, Kung Fu Panda, etc…it’s fun. He does remind me of someone the Duquette Orioles would drag in from the dumpster and put in RF twice a week. 

[Pickles]

21 minutes ago, joelala said:

Hahaha he’s got power. That’s about it. I just always love watching guys who don’t look like athletes playing. Puckett, Gwynn, Mo Vaughn, Kung Fu Panda, etc…it’s fun. He does remind me of someone the Duquette Orioles would drag in from the dumpster and put in RF twice a week. 

Outside of one magical year, he's never slugged over .381.  He literally doesn't have a single major league tool.

He's 5'5" and 225 lbs.  He can't run.  He can't throw.  He can't field.  He can't hit- career average .238.  He doesn't walk.  Career OBP .297.  He can't hit for power- again outside of three magical months in 2019 in Arlington.

The fact that he spent 7 seasons in the major leagues is beyond reason.  The fact that he's hitting 5th for the Yankees and DHing is incomprehensible.

Those guys you listed for one were all much better athletes than Willie Calhoun.  Puckett was a GG CF.  Gwynn was drafted by the NBA.  Vaughn had tremendous power, and Panda a supernatural hit tool.  They all belonged in ML baseball.

Willie doesn't.  And he only got this much run because Jon Daniels makes Dan Duquette look like Branch Rickey.

As someone who watches a lot of Rangers baseball, this is personal for me.

Edited April 22, 2023 by Pickles

[Remember The Alomar]

My new favorite B plot of this forum is Pickles' hatred of Willie Calhoun. 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Remember The Alomar

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

 

[Sports Guy]

Perfect example of how prospect rankings can be so helpful to a player.

[Pickles]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Perfect example of how prospect rankings can be so helpful to a player.

I can't imagine it was that.  He was a decent prospect 7 years ago or so, but he's got a long track record of ML failure.

But I'd love to go back in time and ask one of those scouts who like him where exactly did they see this fat, little Ewok with the arm of a 12 year old girl playing on a major league diamond?

[Sports Guy]

20 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I can't imagine it was that.  He was a decent prospect 7 years ago or so, but he's got a long track record of ML failure.

But I'd love to go back in time and ask one of those scouts who like him where exactly did they see this fat, little Ewok with the arm of a 12 year old girl playing on a major league diamond?

But people are still holding out hope he could live up to his status. 
 

If he wasn’t a highly thought after prospect, he would be out of the game.

[Moose Milligan]

18 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

But people are still holding out hope he could live up to his status. 
 

If he wasn’t a highly thought after prospect, he would be out of the game.

Paging @Can_of_cornto the thread.

See how this works? I’ll hang up and listen. 

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Paging @Can_of_cornto the thread.

See how this works? I’ll hang up and listen. 

You are valuing Sportsguy's opinions now?

[Moose Milligan]

10 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

You are valuing Sportsguy's opinions now?

I’ve had that opinion since before SG’s return. 
 

Guys that were high draft picks get more chances than guys who don’t.  There’s no reason a guy like Willie Calhoun should be in the majors. None.